Market leader for premium river cruises in Europe is firm’s second current investment in Germany

Duke Street, the mid-market private equity group, has agreed to acquire A-ROSA, theGerman upmarket river cruise operator, from Waterland Private Equity. The considerationhas not been disclosed.

A-ROSA is a market leader in the premium segment for river cruises on Europe’s Danube,Rhine/Main/Moselle, Rhône/Saône and Seine rivers. The company was established in 2001as a subsidiary of P&amp;O Princess Cruises and was originally developed as the river cruisecomplement to AIDA ocean cruises. Based in the northern German city of Rostock and inChur, Switzerland, A-ROSA has approximately 600 employees and operates a fleet of 11 highquality vessels. More than 85,000 passengers travelled on board A-ROSA cruises in 2017.The company has, to date, enjoyed a very strong following in its German home market, aswell as growing positions in other consumer markets, including the UK. Benefitting from agrowing base of affluent older consumers, the river cruise segment performed strongly inthe last economic downturn. The A-ROSA brand is highly regarded, with a modern,innovative river cruise fleet and exclusive agreements with key travel agencies. The highquality of on-board food and drink, cabin design and entertainment has encouragedsignificant levels of repeat bookings. The river cruise market is expected to benefit furtherfrom product development, loyalty-based marketing and a reduction in the average age ofcruise holidaymakers.

“We have identified in A-ROSA an exciting opportunity to back the leader in a growingsegment of the European leisure market. The management team, led by CEO Jörg Eichler andCOO Markus Zoepke, has built a strong consumer proposition for seasoned cruisepassengers and new cruisers alike. Waterland has helped the team since 2009 to develop anexcellent platform for further growth and we are delighted to be part of the next phase of A-ROSA’s success.”

Jörg Eichler, CEO of A-ROSA, added:

“Duke Street moved very quickly in building a solid understanding of our business in a shortspace of time and have shown real determination to deliver a transaction that allows us tounlock the growth potential to take A-ROSA to the next level. We look forward to workingtogether with the Duke Street team to develop and grow our business over the next years.”

Given the very strong ongoing consumer demand for the company’s offering, theopportunity exists for Duke Street both to expand A-ROSA’s fleet size and launch its productonto new rivers, while increasing its exposure to source markets outside Germany. Growingawareness of the convenience of visiting iconic European cities from a relaxed floating base is expected to sustain growth in the river cruise market and A-ROSA’s penetration of furtherkey consumer economies on the continent.

The transaction is subject to approval by antitrust authorities.

The A-ROSA buyout increases Duke Street’s current portfolio in Germany to two investmentsmade within two years. In March 2016 the group led a consortium to acquire Medi-GlobeCorporation (Medi-Globe), a medical devices business focused on minimally invasive surgeryin gastroenterology and urology.